South Africa’s State geological agency the Council for Geoscience (CGS) has introduced a high-resolution mapping programme to identify areas with potential to host critical minerals, with the aim of making geological data more accessible to explorers.

The organisation has been mandated to map South Africa at a 1:50 000 scale, which will help highlight the areas with mineral potential, and reduce the time and cost associated with exploration, says CGS communication and stakeholder relations manager Mahlatse Mononela.

The availability of improved geological data comes as exploration activity in South Africa starts to recover following a decline in exploration expenditure in recent years, owing to policy uncertainty and the lack of a functional and transparent cadastral system.

Regional mapping, geophysical data acquisition and soil geochemical surveys conducted by the CGS indicate that the Northern Cape, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces remain “extremely underexplored”, she explains.

Minerals attracting renewed exploration interest include platinum-group metals (PGMs), copper, lithium, vanadium, chromite, graphite, nickel, andalusite, bauxite, tantalum, monzonite, uranium and rare-earth elements (REEs).

“South Africa has a decent, if not one of the best mineral endowments of PGMs, copper, lithium, graphite, nickel, REEs, amongst others,” states Mononela.

Diversified mining companies BHP and Anglo American are investing in research and collaborations for the discovery of Tier 1 deposits, while the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has prioritised support for mineral exploration, involving the Minerals Council South Africa, the CGS, exploration funders, junior explorers and major miners.

“The direct involvement of the ministry has driven reimagined mineral exploration and created avenues for exploration funding to juniors through the activation of the exploration strategy implementation plan,” adds Mononela.

Role of Tech

Technology is also increasingly being used to accelerate exploration and mineral deposit discovery, she says, adding that new technologies are becoming increasingly important as exploration moves towards deposits that are more difficult to identify from the surface.

The CGS has been deploying drones fitted with sensors to fast-track data collection, while more complex and AI-driven applications, including FleetSpace technology, are being piloted in certain parts of the country.

“One can confidently say that it is without doubt that the majority of the big deposits that were easy to discover have been discovered and, to a certain extent, exploited,” says Mononela.

AI can be used to interrogate available data and fast-track target generation, while geophysical methods that penetrate the subsurface can assist in identifying deeper deposits.

Mononela cites ambient noise tomography as an example of a method that can help to fast-track the discovery of deep-seated deposits that are not easy to identify from the surface.

Ambient noise tomography uses sensors to measure naturally occurring vibrations travelling through the ground, enabling geoscientists to build an image of underground geological structures and identify deeper targets that may be difficult to detect from the surface.

However, despite advances in exploration technology and geological data availability, access to funding remains a major challenge for junior and smaller exploration companies, she notes.

However, a junior exploration fund, initiated by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, the CGS and the Industrial Development Corporation, has made some funding available to demonstrate capabilities and crowd in investment interest.

“The government is in conversation with multiple fund managers expressing interest in funding exploration that will lead to an appropriate exploration boom as contemplated in the reimagination of the sector,” she adds.

Mononela notes that, in terms of funding more exploration projects, junior companies’ listing on the stock market is important for raising additional exploration funding.

ESG Criteria

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements are another important consideration in progressing exploration projects, says Mononela.

ESG principles are viewed as best practice for sustainable mining development and are incorporated into the South African code for the reporting of the exploration results, mineral resources and mineral reserves reporting process.

She emphasises that community engagement and access to land are similarly important to the viability of exploration projects, as an exploration project can proceed only after community engagement and access to land have been secured from private or traditional landowners.

While these requirements are stipulated in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, she says community support is also a key component of the exploration and mining value chain.

“Several good projects are still stagnant because of the failure to secure the community buy-in and traditional land occupiers’ support.”

Mononela concludes that South Africa has made progress in overcoming some of the challenges that have hindered exploration investment and continues to improve in several areas.